Is Smoothness of Multiplication Redundant in Lie Group Definitions?

differential-geometrylie-groupssmooth-manifolds

It is well known that in the definition of Lie groups, we actually only need that the multiplication be smooth, since this implies that inversion is smooth.

I'm now trying to solve the following exercise:

Show that in the definition of Lie group, it is enough to assume that the inverse map $G \to G, g \mapsto g^{-1}$ is smooth.

I don't know how to attack this problem, and also couldn't find any other references to it in the literature.

Could I get some hints or references on how to solve it?

Best Answer

As suggested, I’m turning my comment (I was worried I was missing something) into an answer.

The statement is wrong. Consider the classical manifold $\mathbb{R}$, with the non-smooth “addition” law given by $(x,y) \longmapsto \sqrt[3]{x^3+y^3}$. This is a topological group law, and the inverse map is $x \longmapsto -x$, which is smooth.